Five things for pharma marketers to know: Thursday, March 14, 2019

The FDA has proposed more limits on e-cigarette sales to teens. The policies would restrict the sale of products at locations like pharmacies, gas stations, and websites that don’t use age-verification software. Last Tuesday, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, who has cracked down on teen vaping, said he is planning to step down. (Business Insider)

Lawmakers have invited PBMs to testify in front of Congress on April 3. Executives from UnitedHealth, Cigna, Humana, CVS Health, CVS Caremark, and Prime Therapeutics have been asked to appear in front of the Senate Finance Committee. In the previous drug-pricing hearing, pharma CEOs placed much of the blame for high drug prices on PBMs. (Reuters)

Novo Nordisk and AstraZeneca have pulled ads from Fox News programs after hosts’ remarks. Over the weekend, Jeanine Pirro made remarks about Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) that were largely seen as anti-Muslim, while years-old audio of Tucker Carlson making disparaging remarks about women also emerged. (MM&M)

Celgene chemotherapy Abraxane failed in a pancreatic cancer study. The 866-patient study did not result in a statistically significant progression-free survival rate for patients who underwent surgical resection. Abraxane has been approved for metastatic breast cancer, metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer, and metastatic adenocarcinoma of the pancreas. (Endpoints)

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar has defended President Donald Trump’s budget proposal. The wishlist includes cutting $395 million in funding from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid and $4.5 billion from the National Institutes of Health. The proposal also includes a 10% increase in funding for the FDA. (CNBC)